Steel stockholders are among the highest-risk businesses local authorities inspect for health and safety. However, a lack of guidance for businesses and inspectors has allowed industry standards to remain low. Change is on the way though, with a new style of lead authority partnership aiming to redress the balance. Alison Broadhurst reports

The key risks and controls associated with steel stockholding have been well recognised by enforcing authorities over the years, but getting improvements in safety standards has been slow. Improvements have generally been made at a local level, often following serious accidents. This slow progress has mainly been due to the lack of documented guidance on health and safety standards for the industry.

Ironically, for other lower risk businesses, for example hairdressers, there is often abundant published guidance. Consequently inspectors have been left to enforce health and safety legislation without guidance on specific issues relevant to the industry. This brings inconsistencies in enforcement, not only with the type of action taken but with the standards expected of businesses, potentially resulting in under or over enforcement. An inspector who has not been confronted with "but this is common practice in the industry" must be a rarity, and arguing with such a statement can be extremely difficult. Where can an inspector go to get a balanced view and establish the truth?

Exasperation with this lack of guidance prompted Wolverhampton MBC to establish a working group with local steel stockholders to examine particular issues and establish best practice, with the goal that such guidance could eventually be made available nationally. Also the West Midlands Health and Safety Liaison Group organised standardisation exercises for local authority officers within steel stockholders to improve consistency across the member authorities. However, there was no apparent co-ordination at a national level to produce HSE guidance.

Partnerships on trial
Back in June 1998, HELA agreed to trial a number of new types of partnership based on a relationship between a local authority and a trade association. The idea was that a trade association could represent many companies who in their own right would not be considered as candidates for a lead authority partnership scheme (LAPS) due to their size and number of outlets. This type of partnership would therefore have the potential to influence the health and safety performance of the member businesses of the trade association, taking LAPS to its logical, ultimate conclusion. The role of the local authority would be to advise and assist the trade association on implications and interpretation of new legislation; to review the associations' guidance; and to promote good health and safety management to members and liaise with other local authority/HSE inspectors.

In September 1998, Wolverhampton MBC was approached by the Local Authority Unit (LAU) to consider forming such a partnership with the National Association of Steel Stockholders. LAU was aware that Wolverhampton had been actively working with local steel stockholders to try to establish best practice, following a number of serious accidents and numerous near-misses. However, this new partnership was to be groundbreaking as it also included the Health and Safety Executive. This was because the enforcement of health and safety legislation in steel stockholders is split between local authorities and HSE, depending on the premises' main activity.

NASS is a trade association for the steel stockholding industry, with a large membership base of over 100 companies, including the largest steel stockholders in the UK. The association has a safety committee made up of volunteers from some of its member companies. This committee first produced a publication, Safety Guidelines For Steel Stockholders and Processors, in 1980, which has been subject to several revisions and is currently under review. With few exceptions this has been the only guidance available to both industry and enforcers.

Wolverhampton MBC, NASS and HSE's Engineering and Utilities Sector signed an agreement in September 1999 resulting in the partnership known as the Steel Stockholding Lead Authority Partnership (SSLAP). They have agreed to work jointly with the aim to:

• make sure that health and safety is consistently complied with and enforced throughout the steel stockholding industry
• develop guidance and advice on good practice to improve health and safety performance
• encourage members of the National Association of Steel Stockholders to approach their enforcing authority for advice and guidance.

All three partners have a significant contribution to make to the partnership.

NASS:

• has a large membership
• has a profound understanding of the main risks
• has practical experience in applying existing/experimental control measures and alternative management strategies
• has access to its members' research projects
• publishes industry-specific guidance for its members.

Wolverhampton MBC:

• works proactively with the local stockholding industry;
• has expertise derived from enforcing in large operations
• has successfully managed a lead authority partnership with a major brewer.

SE's engineering and utilities sector:

• has staff who have inspected both the engineering (users of steel stock) and steel stockholding industry
• has opinions on the effectiveness of the range of equipment and working practices that have been encountered
• is looking for ways to achieve a change in the two industries' safety cultures.

The partners have now met several times and work is in progress to create guidance on issues relating to steel stockholding, for example the safe storage and handling of metals and safety in loading vehicles and deliveries. It is hoped that such guidance will be published either jointly or by individual partners.
On completion of such guidance the partnership will consider the possibility of providing training for local authority and HSE inspectors, which should help to improve consistency in enforcement.

As with the old type of lead authority partnership scheme it is hoped that local authorities will contact Wolverhampton MBC in the following instances:

• for advice and guidance on health and safety issues relating to steel stockholding
• where a local authority identifies a problem that may have national significance for other stockholders
• for information relating to pertinent enforcement action
• for accident statistics /details
• for information on areas that may require further research.

Success on the cards?
Will the partnership be a success? This remains to be seen, but will depend on many things, not least of which is trust. Probably success or failure will be best measured when the partnership is facing the first major disagreement or crisis. However things are looking promising with all parties pulling in the same direction.

For further advice and information please contact Alison Broadhurst, district
officer, food, licensing and occupational safety division at Wolverhampton MBC.